Bittensor’s first halving cut TAO emissions in half. Here’s how TAO tokenomics work and what the halving cycle means for the future.
Bitcoin’s Blueprint, Applied to AI
Bittensor’s designers modeled TAO’s economics after Bitcoin: same 21 million supply cap, same four-year halving cycle, same deflationary emission schedule. But where Bitcoin miners solve arbitrary puzzles, Bittensor miners produce artificial intelligence.
The First Halving: December 2025
On December 14, 2025, Bittensor completed its first halving. Daily emissions dropped from ~7,200 TAO to ~3,600 TAO. Marginal miners were squeezed out. The network became leaner and higher-quality. Reduced supply created upward price pressure.
Staking: The Hidden Supply Squeeze
Over 70% of circulating TAO is staked. The effective circulating supply is a fraction of the total. Combined with halving-reduced issuance, supply/demand dynamics are structurally constrained. Dynamic TAO makes staking even more attractive — stakers actively direct capital toward promising subnets.
The Grayscale ETF
Grayscale’s filing to convert its Bittensor Trust into a spot ETF (ticker: GTAO) creates a regulated institutional on-ramp. ETF inflows require purchasing TAO on the open market, absorbing supply. If approved, GTAO would be the first U.S.-listed ETF for an AI-focused crypto asset.
The economics are fascinating. The story is even better.
The TAO Story goes beyond tokenomics — the vision, the people, and the experiments that built the world’s first decentralized AI economy.
Learn More About The TAO Story →